More than two dozen faith groups from a range of religious traditions sued the Trump administration on Tuesday to fight back against a policy that may make immigration raids in churches more common.
The lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, claims that ICE raids in houses of worship violate federal religious freedom protections by making it harder for faith groups to minister to immigrants and refugees and live out their religious mission.
“The rescission of the sensitive locations policy is already substantially burdening the religious exercise of Plaintiffs’ congregations and members. Congregations are experiencing decreases in worship attendance and social services participation due to fear of immigration enforcement action,” the lawsuit says.
The Trump administration has not yet responded to the new lawsuit. But in a memo about immigration raids released Friday, officials at the Department of Justice argued that the federal government’s stance on church raids has not substantially changed.
“The memo said that immigration enforcement affecting houses of worship had been permitted for decades, and the new policy announced in January simply said that field agents — using ‘common sense’ and ‘discretion’ — could now conduct such operations without pre-approval from a supervisor," per ABC News.
Lawsuits over ICE raids in churches
The new lawsuit has much in common with one filed in late January by five Quaker congregations.
That ongoing lawsuit, like the new one, centers on religious freedom claims.
The Quakers said that the Trump administration is interfering with faith groups' right to communal worship by paving the way for more ICE raids during religious events, as the Deseret News previously reported.
“Quakers believe that the presence of worshippers from different backgrounds is integral to hearing messages from God,” the lawsuit argues.
In its memo, which came in response to the January lawsuit, the Justice Department argued that the religious freedom claims are based on hypothetical scenarios.
In other words, federal officials have argued that the updated policy on sensitive locations is not doing actual harm.
The lawsuit filed Tuesday seems to respond to that claim by pointing to declining worship attendance over the past few weeks and a recent ICE arrest at a church in Georgia.
“Plaintiffs’ congregations and members face an imminent risk of similar immigration enforcement actions at their places of worship,” the new lawsuits says.
New lawsuit from faith groups
Here are the 27 religious organizations involved in the new lawsuit challenging immigration raids in houses of worship.
- Mennonite Church USA
- The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
- Central Atlantic Conference United Church of Christ
- The Central Conference of American Rabbis
- Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
- Church of the Brethren
- Convención Bautista Hispana de Texas
- The Episcopal Church
- Fellowship Southwest
- Friends General Conference
- General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA)
- General Commission on Religion and Race of the United Methodist Church
- Latino Christian National Network
- Massachusetts Council of Churches
- The New York Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church
- New York State Council of Churches
- North Carolina Council of Churches
- The North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church
- The Rabbinical Assembly
- Reconstructing Judaism
- Rhode Island State Council of Churches
- Union for Reform Judaism
- Unitarian Universalist Association
- The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
- The Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church
- Wisconsin Council of Churches
- Wisdom, Inc.